


Frozen in the Past, Thawed in the Present

by marbee



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: trigger warning: suicide attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:40:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23181874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marbee/pseuds/marbee
Summary: Peeta Mellark has lived frozen in time for over 100 years. He has no memory of what happened in his mortal life, he has no memory of what caused him to live the rest of his life as a man who will never grow old, who will never die. All he knows that he will live the rest of his never-ending days in the companionship of an apprentice of the Angel of Death, Haymitch Abernathy, another soul destined to live in limbo. He learns to find contention in this life—that is until he meets Katniss Everdeen.
Relationships: Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Frozen in the Past, Thawed in the Present

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger Warning: Suicide Attempt
> 
> All mistakes are mine.

He dreads it every year. December 17th, the day that marks the eternal curse that had been bestowed upon him. Peeta Mellark has spent the last 114 years staring at the clock as it turns to midnight. Once the clock strikes midnight, it would be 115 years. He hasn’t gone through many clocks in his life, he doesn’t need to, considering the one he owns never gave out and never will. After his 5th year of living like this, he thought he could be freed if he destroyed the old rickety grandfather clock. He tried smashing it, he tried burning it and nothing—perfectly pristine.  
  
After his 10th year, he had tried to sell it to Wiress Latier, the wife of the town’s clockmaker. He thought he was free of it until not even a month had passed when her husband, Beetee, had come to Peeta to explain that he and his wife no longer needed the clock. When he asked why Beetee could not give him a proper answer other than his wife had not taken well to the clock being in the house and decided that it was best that they returned it. Rumors were running around that Mrs. Latier had gone into a state of insanity out of thin air and couldn’t say anything other than tick tock tick tock. She already had a reputation for missing a few volts but Peeta knew deep down that this was something completely different. The Latiers weren’t asking for a refund but Peeta gave them their money back anyway. He didn’t want to cheat these people out of their hard-earned cash. It would sit heavy in his heart for a very long time if he did.  
  
He knew he would never be rid of this clock when after 15 years had passed, he chucked it into the Mississippi River on his way west to California. Denial ripped through his bones when he found the old grandfather clock sitting on his bed in his motel room in Sedona, Arizona. In a complete rage, he had gone off route a bit to the Grand Canyon and flung it as far as he could throw. He fell to his knees when he caught sight of that damned clock in his living quarters on the Californian farm where he would be working as a farmer. He began to heave heavy sobs, the type of sobs that make your chest feel like it is on fire. Later that week, no longer being able to stand the clock, Peeta Mellark tried to hang himself on the tree by the creek off-farm grounds. The necklace of rope stayed fashioned around his neck for hours and nothing happened, no shortage of breath, no darkness encompassing the outer ridges of his vision. At first, he thought he did it wrong. Perhaps he wasn’t high enough off the ground, perhaps the noose wasn’t tight enough. Perhaps he wasn’t meant to ever die.  
  
Through the shadows of the night, he spotted his companion, the man who has been trying to speak to him for the past 15 years. Running from this man was just another method of denial, another way to push out the truth that has been gnawing his gut all this time. Talking to this man means that he has accepted his fate, a fate he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy. However, 15 years is a long time to be running from the truth, a truth that he already knows. Peeta’s shoulders stay limp as the old man helps him from the tree, removing the rope that has been eating the milky skin on his neck raw. The old man guides Peeta to the creek where they sit in silence for who knows how long.  
  
After what feels like an eternity, the man finally spoke, “I guess I’ll start with the formalities. I’m Haymitch Abernathy, your guardian.”  
  
“Peeta Mellark,” he had responded curtly.  
  
“You know,” said Haymitch after a moment as he skips rocks against the creek surface, “life is like a train. Everyone, when they are born, is given an arrival and departure time. They all get on the train and then they get off when it’s their time to go.”  
  
Peeta began to feel the blood drain from his body as he continued, “but unfortunately, Boy, that’s not the case for you. You will never get off this train.”  
  
The year is 2020, the place is Panem, Pennsylvania. The man is Peeta Mellark, aged 27. He has been living frozen in time for, now would be 115 years. He has recently returned to the town he grew up in, having figured that anyone that would possibly recognize him would be long dead and any thought of him would be lost to history. He has no memory of his life before immortality, he has no idea what he did to gain such immortality. All he knows is that he can never and will never die. 

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't planning on publishing this so early, but recently my job and classes were moved to online due to COVID-19 for the rest of the semester, so I have a lot of time on my hands. I don't expect that I will be uploading frequently on this WIP mostly because I'm still fleshing some parts out and I kind of need to it all to stay coherent. 
> 
> Imagine this story as the love child between The Twilight Zone and Goblin: The Great and Lonely God.
> 
> I hope y'all are doing well! I hope you all are safe and please practice social distancing as much as possible (I understand that not everyone has the privilege to do, so I offer you all virtual dino chicken nuggets in solidarity)


End file.
